Tag Archives: black

Creating good user experiences for apps inside messaging platforms poses a relatively new design challenge. When moving from desktop web to mobile interfaces, developers have had to rethink interaction design to work around a constrained screen size, a new set of input gestures and unreliable network connections.

Like our tiny touchscreens, messaging platforms also shake up the types of input that apps can accept, change designers’ canvas size, and demand a different set of assumptions about how users communicate.

Component-based libraries or frameworks such as Vue have given us the wonderful ability to create reusable components to be spread throughout their respective application, ensuring that they are consistent, and (hopefully) simplifying how they are used.

In particular, form inputs tend to have plenty of complexity that you’d want to hide in a component, such as custom designs, labels, validation, help messages, and making sure each of these pieces are in the correct order so that they render correctly.

I’ve been a long time Photoshop and Illustrator user. Both programs are really useful and powerful, and they’ll remain a key part of any digital artist’s or designer’s toolset, including mine. However, for all user interface, web and icon design workflows, I recently converted to Sketch. Here is why.

While Photoshop is awesome at what it does, defining what it is might not be so easy anymore. I remember watching a storyboarding tutorial by Massive Black’s El Coro (unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be available for sale anymore). In it, he says that 17 or so years ago, Adobe had no idea that digital artists were using Photoshop to digitally paint pictures! So, it had to catch up with its own user base by adding more — you guessed it — painting features.

Psst: This post was published previously on the Unbounce Blog. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday around the corner, we’ve updated it with helpful tips and critiques that will inspire your upcoming holiday campaigns.

It’s that time again: Holiday shopping season.

And every business is trying to take advantage of the billions of consumer dollars that will be spent over the next four weeks.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday were only the beginning.

We all know that there were millions of consumers heading online and into stores to grab the first amazing deals of the season. The question is, which brands left money on the table?

Over the past weekend, I took a look at a bunch of Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing campaigns that were promoted through Twitter, Facebook and Google Adwords.

Some marketers knocked it out of the park.

Others, not so much.

I took a quick tally of how many websites were promoting their sales through the use of landing pages, and I was disappointed to say the least.

This was a random sample of campaigns found by searching for Cyber Monday & Black Friday keywords

Just 8 out of 34 campaigns used a landing page that focused on the black Friday sale.

16 of the campaigns sent traffic to a corporate website, using some sort of headline or banner to promote the sale.

And a whopping 10 out of 34 companies just sent traffic to their normal homepage without a single mention of Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

That’s huge.

I mean, almost 30% of the companies I looked at figured all they had to do was send out a tweet or an ad to promote themselves on Black Friday weekend!

So what are the tricks you can use on your landing pages to knock holiday shopping season out of the park? Let’s take a look at 7 sites that actually used a landing page to promote themselves this past weekend, and the different strategies they employed to pull it off.

1. Autozone

Strategy: The flash sale [promoted via Twitter]

I love the premise of this page. Auto parts retailer Autozone set up a bunch of “flash sales” that were released throughout the day. The counter on the page told visitors when the next flash sale would be available.

In theory, this should increase the engagement of the page and keep visitors’ attention longer by getting them excited about the next sale.

But there are a couple of problems with how they went about it:

Is this page already sold out?

The words “SOLD OUT” are very large on this page. It’s the first thing you see, and I’d be afraid of this driving traffic away from the site. If you went into a store on Black Friday and saw a huge sign that said “SOLD OUT” would you stick around?

I would make the headline more explanatory. Something like this:

“Our latest sale has SOLD OUT, our next sale starts in: 00:02:57”

Don’t make me wait!

Another drawback I see with this page is a high abandon rate. Sure, you’re going to get a few people interested enough to stick around, but a good portion of your visitors are going to bounce off this page and forget about it.

That way you’re not only building a list for the future, you’re also keeping visitors engaged throughout Cyber Monday.

2. Snack Tools

Strategy: The overlay [promoted via Twitter and Facebook]

All right, so this example isn’t a landing page, but it represents an effective way to boost conversions during the holidays.

Web app company Snack Tools put an overlay on its site with the details of a holiday promotion for visitors who arrived via social media.

Their technique presents a few problems:

My attention span is short, give me the quick points

The trouble with competing on Cyber Monday or Black Friday is that everyone is trying to find the best deal. That means they don’t necessarily want to spend a lot of time on your page to decide if your deal is right for them.

This overlay needs less copy and preferably fewer membership benefits. Less is more when it comes to using overlays.

Another option is to remove the close button and turn this into a real landing page! However, if the copy is strong and the offer is clear, this overlay will be able to drive conversions as well as any standalone page.

Pro tip: Targeted overlays create more conversion opportunities… which means more conversions for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns. Build and publish high-converting overlays in *just a few minutes* with Unbounce’s drag and drop builder.

Just remember, using overlays is a great way to increase sales and conversions. The deal you’re offering is front and center is sure to capture visitors’’ attention.

This call to action is rubbish

“Post your order” is only slightly better than “Submit” – and we all know you should never submit.

No need to get fancy, but a simple “Activate My Account” would be a much better call to action.

3. ONE Medical Group

Strategy: Promotional code [promoted via Google Adwords and Twitter]

This is an example of a promotion code landing page. It seems visually appealing at first glance, but there are some serious issues with this page:

Am I shopping for furniture?

The photo in the background looks like a furniture store, not anything medical. Images on a landing page are very important. They reassure visitors that they’ve arrived in the right place.

What exactly does this company do?

This entire page focuses on the Cyber Monday deal, but makes no mention of the product itself. If I were a visitor who didn’t know anything about this service, I would not have enough information to move forward.

Make sure not to lose focus on your product and the benefits it will bring to your visitors. Ultimately, that’s what will sell your product or service.

Where’s the call to action?

Oh right, it’s those two orange buttons. The problem with these buttons is that they’re the exact same colour as the logo (Yikes!).

As a result, they get lost in the shuffle. By making your calls to action look like buttons and giving them enough contrast with the other elements of your landing page, you’ll get a higher click-through rate on your landing pages.

4. Sage

Why reinvent the wheel? If you already have a successful landing page that’s crushing conversions for your company, you may not need to make large sweeping changes for a holiday promotion.

If you’re in a pinch, you can set up a landing page just like this. Sage sells account software, and it looks like they’re using a basic template for their landing pages. This allows them to swap out the background image and the headlines for various promotions quickly and easily.

But what about urgency?!

This page is simple and to the point, but it could use more urgency. The beauty of Cyber Monday/Black Friday is that you have that urgency built right in. Remind your visitors that this is a limited time offer and it’s going to expire very soon.

Sage could throw a countdown on this landing page, which might give visitors that extra little push to convert.

5. The New York Times

Strategy: Focus on one step at a time [promoted via their website]

I like this page.

It cuts to the core of the offer and doesn’t have any fluff.

My only critiques are that the headline could be more readable and the end date doesn’t have very much emphasis; you want to make sure that every visitor is aware that the deal is limited, which creates a sense of urgency.

Here’s what I like so much about this page:

Frequently asked questions are available, but don’t take up space

The FAQs are on the bottom left of the page. If you don’t need them, they don’t take up much room anyway. But if you’re interested in seeing them, they’re just one click away.

Awesome.

The page stays simple until it needs more information

When you first land on this page the only two options are “For myself” and “For a gift.”

When you make a choice, the page expands and gives you more options.

The reason this is so great is that it keeps the user focused on the task at hand. Giving a visitor too many options all at once can be overwhelming and increase the page’s bounce rate. Well done, New York Times marketers!

No need to get fancy, but a simple “Activate My Account” would be a much better call to action.

6. Vimeo

Strategy: Get cheeky [promoted via Twitter]

This is an excellent Cyber Monday landing page. Vimeo has taken Cyber Monday and a unique spin on it with “Cyborg” Monday.

The deal is laid out very clearly and the product and its benefits are outlined in the green section of the page.

But can they improve this page?

My main critique of this page is that the call to actions don’t look like buttons. Also, a fun play on a cyborg countdown could enhance the page and add a sense of scarcity.

7. Young and Reckless

Strategy: The storefront landing page [promoted via Twitter]

If you’re a marketer for an e-commerce site then listen up!

Young and Reckless is the ONLY online retailer I saw the entire weekend that effectively used a landing page concept on their store.

This store/landing page is specially designed to sell their products on Cyber Monday. There is no menu navigation, no distractions and no fluff. Just selling.

The only problem is that they didn’t quite go all the way:

Where is the offer???

The shirts on this page are listed between 25% and 50% off, so where is the headline telling me about it?

A headline like this would be more effective:

“Cyber Monday”
“Until Midnight Only: Save up to 50% on everything you see below”

Just add urgency

This is a long page because there are lots of items listed. Why not include a timer that follows the visitor down the page reminding them how much time they have left on Cyber Monday?

It’s just another element that could drive home the scarcity of the sale.

Now it’s your turn.

Take these strategies and apply them to your own campaigns for better results. The holiday buying season is well worth the extra effort.

What creative campaigns will you come up with before the holiday season is over?

Every year it feels like TV and radio stations, retailers and other businesses start the “holiday season” talk earlier and earlier. Some people complain. Some people love it. I’m usually thinking about other things — like how to stay sane. You see, online retailers (which many of my clients are) are basically going berserk during the months of November and December. Ever heard of Black Friday? Cyber Monday? E-commerce booms as the holidays near, especially among women and Millennials. Taking advantage of these search trends takes preparation, grit, timing, and even a little bit of luck. I’m not promising an…

Have you ever opened a website, started reading and, after some time had passed and all assets had finished loading, you found that you’ve lost your scroll position? I undergo this every day, especially when surfing on my mobile device on a slow connection — a frustrating and distracting experience.

Every time the browser has to recalculate the positions and geometries of elements in the document, a reflow happens. This happens when new DOM elements are added to the page, images load or dimensions of elements change. In this article, we will share techniques to minimize this content shifting.

The benefits of UI design systems are now well known. They lead to more cohesive, consistent user experiences. They speed up your team’s workflow, allowing you to launch more stuff while saving huge amounts of time and money in the process. They establish a common vocabulary between disciplines, resulting in a more collaborative and constructive workflow.

They make browser, device, performance, and accessibility testing easier. And they serve as a solid foundation to build upon over time, helping your organization to more easily adapt to the ever-shifting web landscape. This article provides a detailed guide to building and maintaining atomic design systems with Pattern Lab 2.

Call to Action Conference 2016 may be over, but our heads are still spinning from all the enlightening things we learned and the boss people we met. With nearly 1K attendees and 21 speakers filling Vancouver’s most prestigious theater, I think we all left feeling a little overwhelmed.

… In a good way, of course. Like a food coma, but instead we’re filled with marketing learnings.

Do you like challenges? Are you willing to take on a task that you’ve never come across before, and do it under a deadline? What if, in carrying out the task, you encounter a problem that appears unsolvable? I want to share my experience of using CSS 3D effects for the first time in a real project and to inspire you to take on challenges.

It was an ordinary day when Eugene, a manager at CreativePeople, wrote to me. He sent me a video and explained that he was developing a concept for a new project and was wondering if it was possible for me to develop something like what was in the video.